This invention relates to enhancing animal growth. More specifically this invention is directed toward using blue wavelength light sources to enhance the growth of animals.
Over time animals as a result of evolution and learned traits as a result of their environment have developed both psychological and physiological reactions to conditions in their environment. Such physiological traits are often easy to identify. These include a chameleon that changes colors to camouflage itself from predators, animals that emit spray or odor, like the skunk to defend itself against predators or the like. Psychological reactions include how mothers of most species will protect their young from harm by hiding eggs or fighting.
While some physiological and psychological changes and effects are obvious and easily identified, others are more subtle. For example, studies and tests have shown that different wavelength light can have different physiological and psychological changes in different animals. The color red and or flashing light has been shown to cause fighting among avian, whereas green and blue colored lighting has been shown to improve the growth of eggs.
Constant blue wavelength lighting at low intensities also cause avians to increase in both size and yield as compared to avians not exposed to constant blue wavelength lighting. Specifically, the blue lighting or moon lighting tends to create a psychological reaction where birds do not stir or move in blue light. Moonlight, or blue light, causes birds, such as turkeys, to freeze and not move because predators often patrol during the night. Thus psychologically the birds in blue light freeze to go undetected from such predators. In chicken, hen and turkey facilities, having the birds freeze is advantageous to prevent birds from fighting and killing one another, thus reducing yield.
One physiological effect blue light has on avian is the production of melatonin in larger levels than other spectrum of wavelength visible light and even darkness. In particular, moonlight causes optimum production of melatonin, not complete darkness. Thus, in an enclosed facility such as a barn, providing blue light instead of complete darkness provides better melatonin outputs and healthier birds.
Another physiological effect blue light has on avian is the production of adrenaline. In particular, even though blue light is typically a sleep state, at the same time a growth state is presented. Thus birds in blue light show significant weight gain as compared to birds not under the influence of blue light.
Lighting can also be an important consideration in other applications, such as livestock production. For example, incandescent or fluorescent lights may be turned on and off to simulate night and day for fowl living indoors. So-called “long day” lighting practices have been proposed to promote increased daily milk production from cows. Some research also suggests, for example, that poultry development behaviors can be influenced by lighting intensity, color, or time schedule. For example, infrared lighting may promote aggression in chickens, while too much darkness might lead to fearfulness.
In general, “poultry” can refer to domesticated fowl raised for meat or eggs. Typical examples of poultry can include chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, emus, ostriches or game birds. In some cases, poultry are raised in a poultry house. An example poultry house could be 40 feet wide and 600 feet long, with a ceiling that is eleven feet high. For so-called “broilers,” young chickens raised for their meat, one research study found that a schedule of intermittent lighting resulted in decreased fat deposition and improved feed conversion efficiency relative to a continuous lighting environment. (See Rahmi, G., et al., The Effect of Intermittent Lighting Schedule on Broiler Performance,” Int'l. J. Poultry Sci. 4 (6): 396-398 (2005)).
Various types of lighting have been employed in livestock production facilities. Livestock lighting systems that have been used include incandescent, fluorescent, and more recently, LEDs (light emitting diodes).
In general animal's perception of light involves photoreceptor cells that may be responsive to photons associated with light energy. Photoreceptors may be located in a retina. Photoreceptor cells may be of a rod or cone type. Some cones may be less sensitive to light than rod cells, but cones may allow perception of color.
Therefore, a principle object of the present invention is to increase the growth of an animal using a blue wavelength light source;
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lighting assembly that emits light for a predetermined time to increase the yield of a plurality of animals;
These and other object, features and advantages will become apparent from the rest of the specification.